This research examines (a) interaction between alcohol consumption and aversive contingencies in the rat, (b) induction and maintenance of long term intoxication, and (c) selective breeding of rats for CNS reactivity to alcohol. All experiments attempt to seek an animal model of alcoholism or clarification of the variables influencing alcohol consumption. (a) Since shock differentially affects polydipsic alcohol and water consumption, these fluids are offered simultaneously in a polydipsic choice situation during which mild shocks are administered. Controls receive no shock. Although analysis is not yet complete, the shocked animals have increased their alcohol consumption above control level, lending support to a tension reduction hypothesis of alcohol action. (b) Many procedures for maintaining adequate alcohol consumption by rats confound alcohol's calorie value with its pharmacodynamic action. This year we have employed a number of methods to attempt to circumvent this problem. One technique has been to offer animals 1,3 butanediol, a non-intoxicating fluid, equicaloric to alcohol, in addition to alcohol. Another procedure, akin to that of conditioned medication, is to feed the animal a deficient diet and to include the needed nutrient in the alcohol solution. Pilot work indicates that prolonged consumption is maintained with no weight loss. (c) Two strains of rats bred for extremes of motoric reactivity to alcohol are presently in the ninth generation. Studies are being conducted to determine what other differences in behavior may distinguish these two strains.